In 1989 I was living in New Haven, Conn. and was heavily involved in researching Civil War regiments from that area. A few days a month I would travel the 45 minutes to Hartford and search the records in the State Library for information on particular soldiers.

On one trip, I brought a friend with me named Noel Fisco. Noel wanted to research his Uncle Frank, who was killed fighting with the Marines on Iwo Jima.

When we arrived at the State Archives, I showed Noel where to find the records on his Uncle in WW2, and I proceeded to the section where the Civil War records were kept. After a half hour or so, Noel returned to say that he had found the information he wanted on his uncle. Noel also informed me that he had found a card listing my relative that was killed. I told Noel that he must be mistaken. All of my relatives who served in World War 2 had survived. Noel insisted that he had found a De Cusati who had been killed in the war. Curious, I went to look.

What I found amazed me. In a file drawer was a card that read, "Sgt Joseph De Cusati killed in action over Germany March 30, 1945". I had no idea who this was, but having the same last name we had to be related. The card said that Joe was buried in St. Lawrence Cemetery in New Haven. Noel's uncle was in the same cemetery, so off we went. On the ride back to New Haven, I tried to remember if I had ever heard of Joe before, but could remember nothing. I also wondered what could have happened to him. How did he die? It was so late in the war. Did he die knowing the end of the war was so close? What did he look like? My thoughts were interrupted by our arrival at the cemetery. After a quick visit to the office to get a location, I was standing at Joe's resting place. Within 45 minutes of learning of his existence, I was looking down on his grave. The grave had not been visited for a long time. The headstone was okay, but the footstone was nearly covered. I cleared away the grass and dirt as best I could and read "Joseph De Cusati, Connecticut, Sgt. 732nd AAF Bomb Sq. World War II - March 16, 1923 - March 30, 1945". Now I was excited! I had what unit he was in! Joe was in the 732nd Squadron! That's great! Only problem was . . . what did AAF mean!!?? I had always studied the Civil War and knew almost nothing of World War 2. This was the start of a search for information that continues to this day.